RhythmOne Releases 1H 2015 Mobile Benchmark Report

SAN FRANCISCO, CA--(Marketwired - Sep 17, 2015) - RhythmOne ("1R"), a media technology company that connects audiences with brands through premium content across devices, has released its inaugural Mobile Advertising Benchmarks Report. The report, covering the first half of 2015 (1H 2015), provides average engagement rates, interaction rates, and video completion rates for a variety of advertiser categories, ad formats, and durations -- offering marketers and agencies a concrete view into evolving consumer behavior, which is becoming increasingly mobile.

In addition to key statistics, the 1H 2015 Mobile Advertising Benchmarks Report details best practices intended to help advertisers optimize the effectiveness and efficiency of mobile campaigns. Data for the report was sourced from RhythmOne's US-based mobile programs, which spanned 20 advertiser categories and encompassed five ad units: Interactive In-Stream Video, In-Stream Video, Interstitial Video, Mobile Full Page, and Mobile Rich Media.

"In a mobile-first world where 'the small screen' is becoming a primary channel where users consume content and engage with brands, expectations and needs are intensifying," said Dan Slivjanovski, Chief Marketing Officer for RhythmOne. "As marketers, we have to keep pace with their expectations and ensure an optimal experience for the user, while achieving maximum efficacy for campaigns -- staying apace with the data, key trends, and consumer behaviors is the best way to do that."

Key Findings

• On average, mobile video programs (a combination of Interactive In-Stream Video and In-Stream Video) delivered an 87.94% Video Completion Rate (VCR) in 1H 2015 (87.78% smartphones; 87.98% tablets).
• Travel, Entertainment - DVD Release, Employment, Financial Services, and Retail advertisers were the top performers for VCR.
• Books and Magazines, Entertainment - Feature Film Release, Retail, Entertainment - TV Tune-In, and Automotive advertisers were the top performers for consumer engagement.
• On average, RhythmOne's mobile programs saw a 2.65% click-through rate (CTR) in 1H 2015 (2.52% smartphones; 3.04% tablets).

Best Practices: Implications for Advertisers

• Mobile Full Page units are an ideal format for driving engagement on tablets, while Mobile Rich Media units drive completion on smartphones.
• Fifteen seconds is the optimal length for video completion, while 30 seconds is the optimal length for video engagement.
• Consumer drop-off is highest during the first quarter of mobile video ads.

A full summary write-up and detailed findings are available on the RhythmOne blog.

About RhythmOne
RhythmOne is an advertising technology company that connects audiences with brands through premium content across devices, at scale. We work with advertisers, publishers and content providers to offer fully integrated, cross-screen advertising solutions, spanning desktop and mobile video, rich media, display, social and native formats. Leading with mobile and video, RhythmOne offers advertisers a significant supply footprint through both owned and operated web properties and a network of quality partners. RhythmGuard is our proprietary filtering technology that screens and qualifies inventory pre-campaign, eliminating suspicious or fraudulent traffic before it reaches the advertiser. Powered by RhythmGuard, our next-generation audience targeting platform lets us provide a range of premium and RTB media buying solutions -- all within a brand safe environment. The sum of these capabilities ensures advertisers maximize their ROI, with transparent measurement around campaign effectiveness and attribution. RhythmOne's long-term vision is to provide the industry's most accountable marketplace for online advertising.

The Company is headquartered in San Francisco, California with offices worldwide. For more information please visit www.rhythmone.com.